This is the last part of the SHIPS 2011 (Strategies, Human Resources, Infrastructure, Processes and Security) Conference with the theme ‘Build Ships – Build India’ hosted by Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and National Maritime Foundation (NMF) at The Gateway Hotel, Kochi, Kerala on 27 and 28 September 2011.

The SHIPS 2011: “Build Ships – Build India” Seminar continued on 28 September 2011. Some interesting features of the second day seminar are:

Morning:

Plenary sessions on Indigenisation, Shipyard Productivity.

Speakers of the seminar were honoured.

Afternoon:

Panel Discussion was conducted as a colloquium by all participants formed into four brain storming groups to discuss on Policy, Productivity, Indigenisation and Human Resources.

Seminar was concluded with valedictory session.

A visit to Cochin Shipyard Ltd was arranged for a group of 25 to 30 delegates.

“Opportunities and Challenges in Warship Building in India – An Indian Navy Perspective”: by Commander Rajeev Sreedharan, Directorate of Naval Design, New Delhi.

Highlights

India is having a glorious maritime heritage; but around the period of independence, India could not match the capability (to design and build warships) available with other countries; now India has built around 80 warships with 18 Indian designs.

Presently Indian Navy has the largest pool of Naval Architects in the country with the capability to design all types of warships; also current warships are being constructed with 60% to 80% indigenous content; if the present trend continues, India can become a warship seller to the world.

India’s core capabilities in warship design

Structural design.

Stealth.

Hydrodynamics.

Propulsion system integration.

HVAC (Heating, Ventilation, Air Conditioning).

Earlier Public Sector Shipyards like MDL, GRSE, GSL were engaged in warship construction; now CSL and HSL are also engaged in warship construction.

Features unique to Indian warship building

Extremely complex engineering activity that involves integration of equipment, systems of various manufacturers from India and other countries.

Undergoes frequent midcourse corrections due to technological advancements and to comply to the latest military strategy.

Prolonged financial sanction procedures followed by the government.

No significant learning curve benefits because of small batch sizes of warships.

Telescopic design and construction because of long gestation periods.

Thrust on indigenisation, to overcome possible ‘sanctions’ from other countries.

Slow decision making as the number of stakeholders are more.

Higher shipyard effort is needed to deliver the warship.

Factors affecting development of indigenous material and equipment for warship building

Government:

Restricts production of many items by private industry to safeguard military interests.

Complicated and prolonged procedures set up by the government to procure material from vendors.

Overdependence on foreign OEMs for the supply of material.

Vendors:

Show least interest to indigenise materials/products as it involves huge investments and less volume of business.

Performance of most of the vendors are not satisfactory.

Now Indian Navy has started placing orders to build low weapon intensive warships by private shipyards.

What needs to be done further for warship building ?

Capacity expansion with modern shipbuilding techniques to meet the growing requirements of warships by the Indian Navy.

Indian Coast Guard ships are being constructed by both Public and Private Sector shipyards; Indian Coast Guard faces problems in both type of shipyards for ship construction; there is a need to benchmark shipbuilding processes of Indian shipyards to global standards; this will help to improve the productivity of Indian shipyards.

Problems faced in Public Sector shipyards

Lack of modernisation and automation.

Design capability not of international standards.

Delays in Planning and Procurements.

Low productivity.

Problems in Private Sector shipyards

Commercial considerations play a major role.

Lack of quality control mechanism.

Low productivity.

Deviation from standard shipbuilding procedures.

Common grey areas

Poor product support.

Lack of ancillary support.

Over-dependence on manufacturers based abroad.

Lack of quality and trained manpower.

Advantages seen in foreign shipyards for shipbuilding

Great emphasis on use of jigs, frames, lifting tools, mock ups, templates etc.,

Automation.

Production dash boards available to monitor daily progress.

Emphasis on time, space and safety management.

Post-launching build periods for warships are abnormally high in India; this leads to

Obsolescence of equipment.

Preservation of equipment till installation and commissioning.

Risk of losing warranty/guarantee.

Technology is outdated by the time warship is delivered.

Reasons for long construction periods for warships in Indian shipyards

Design changes and midcourse corrections.

Complicated procedures lead to delayed approvals.

Lack of indigenisation and over-dependence on foreign suppliers.

Not following integrated ship construction.

Lack of Planning and Project Management.

Modernisation needed in Indian shipyards to improve productivity.

Docks & Crane facility.

High capacity cranes.

Improved shop facilities.

Trained manpower.

Use of CAD/CAM and other IT solutions in shipbuilding processes.

Implementing integrated construction.

Plenary Session VII: Colloquium

All the participants were formed into four groups to discuss on the following topics as per their choice:

National level directory of ship builders, ship repairers, marine vendors must be compiled, published and to be updated regularly.

Government support must be extended to both private and public sector shipyards to market their products.

National Shipbuilding Corporation with representatives from maritime domain has to be established.

National Port Authority must be established to control the sea ports like Airport Authority of India

Shipyard Productivity.

Shipyards must have state of the art design capability to ensure error-free, defect-free shipbuilding; ship designers must have practical exposure to ship building and seafaring to be good designers; a good design helps to reduce time and cost over run.

Shipyards must interact with each other to improve productivity.

Shipyards must have a strong vendor base to reduce procurement time and to procure quality material.